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Alzheimer's disease

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ALZHEIMERSDISEASE

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WHAT IS ALZHEIMER’S? Alzheimers is the most common form of dementia. It is a neurodegenerative disease that occurs in the brain. Alzheimer’s disease causes a deterioration in the brain by destroying the nerve cells. Once the nerve cells begin to deteriorate it causes a reduction of responses to other nerve cells. The condition spreads out causing chemical interruptions, the transmission of impulses is slow, and finally tissues in the brain begin to get worse. In Alzheimer’s disease, nerve cells in the brain die gradually. This makes it increasingly difficult for your brain’s signals to be sent properly. There are 7 stages of Alzheimers

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HOW YOU GET THE DISEASE? They still don’t know how the Alzheimer’s disease process begins, it seems likely that damage to the brain starts a decade or more before problems become evident. People who have relatives with Alzheimer’s have a higher risk than the general population for developing the disease. People who have a parent or sibling with Alzheimers disease are 3.5 times as likely to develop it. This strong tendency of Alzheimers disease to run in families is due, in part, to mutations in certain genes.

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WHERE DOES ALZHEIMER’S AFFECT YOU INTHE BODY? Alzheimer’s affects the brain. Alzheimers causes neurons to die which causes the brain to shrink. This leads to a loss of functioning capabilities in almost all parts of brain, not just the ones that affect memory. This leads to the formation of clumps and tangles within the brain and eventually leads to death. When you have Alzheimer’s the cerebral cortex shrinks massively. The cerebral cortex is the outer surface of the brain and it is responsible for all intellectual functioning. The spaces in the folds of the brain (the sulci) are grossly enlarged. You cannot catch or spread Alzheimer’s

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WHEN DO YOU GET ALZHEIMERS? Alzheimer’s disease can occur at any age, even as young as 40 years, but its occurrence is much more common as the years go by Early Alzheimers starts at 65 years of age or younger. Late Alzheimers starts after age 65 One in ten people over 65 years of age suffer from the disease, and over half the people over 85 have Alzheimer’s disease. At first the symptoms are difficult to recognise. In the first 2 stages of Alzheimers you cannot recognise that you have it. Often it is difficult to pinpoint when the Alzheimer’s disease actually began in a person.

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CURE AND TREATMENT FOR ALZHEIMER’S Currently there is no cure for Alzheimer’s. However there are several drugs that may be prescribed to help people with Alzheimer’s. They are not a cure, but can help with some of the symptoms of the disease. Drugs such as donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine (Exelon), and galantamine (Reminyl) are used to treat symptoms in Alzheimers disease. Antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, and antipsychotics are used to treat the symptoms of depression, anxiety, agitation, and the hallucinations and delusions that may occur in Alzheimers disease patients